Friday, September 11, 2009

Why the hesitation to form a Royal Commission of Inquiry , YAB Prime Minister?

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib announced yesterday that the Cabinet has set up a special task force to look into the Port Klang Free Zone ( PKFZ ) project. The task force will be headed by Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek .

The question the people want to know is why has the Cabinet not set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the project which has become the" scandals of all scandals "?

The scandal is not a new issue and to date so many questions remain unanswered. Neither has any one been prosecuted although a special task force appointed has completed and submitted its investigation. What is causing the Cabinet's hesitation in setting up a RCI to fully investigate this RM 12.5 bil scandal?

Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon had earlier said that a RCI should be set up . He should tell the people whether he did make such a proposal at yesterday's Cabinet meeting and if he did , why were Cabinet members not supportive of his proposal?

When columnist Baradan Kuppusamy had written in an article titled " Tee Keat takes the hard- but right course" that Tee Keat seemed to be fighting a lone battle for transparency and accountability, the Prime Minister's office had issued a statement to clarify that the government was not indifferent towards the PKFZ issue and that relevant authorities, including the Public Accounts Committee were already conducting their investigations.

I had said that such clarification would not convince the people that the government had taken serious and sufficient efforts to investigate the scandal. I am sure again that if a government survey is carried out to gauge public opinion on the setting up of the special task force headed by Tan Sri Mohd Sidek and a RCI , the result will be overwhelming support for the setting up of a RCI.

The Straits Times has reported that the findings of the special task force headed by senior Malaysian lawyer Vinayak Pradhan had identified former transport minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy as among people who had not carried out their duties with adequate care. New Straits Times also said that they read the yet to be released report.

Many Malaysians are now wondering whether it is true that the yet to released report has been leaked. Why is there no official reaction from the Government on this?

A special task force headed by lawyer Vinayak Pradhan was set up . Now a super task force headed by Tan Sri Mohd Sidek is formed. Malaysians are now joking that a super super task force headed by the Prime Minister himself may be formed when the super task force submits its findings to the Cabinet.

The joke simply shows that the Cabinet has failed to convince the people of its commitment to transparency and accountability on the PKFZ scandal . The Cabinet should know that the single most important issue which has baffled the Malaysian public and the most important answer that they want to know is this - why is the Cabinet hesitant in setting up a RCI to investigate the RM 12.5 bil scandal?